While many in the industry had expected that the fiduciary rule would be repealed or significantly modified when Trump took office, the rule went into effect June 9, mostly still intact. The rest of the operational requirements will become applicable in January 2018.

Per Trump’s February order, the DOL continues to re-evaluate the rule. Meanwhile, many government positions remain unfulfilled. “Many of the pieces were still missing at the DOL,” Fred said. “If Trump wants to implement his agenda through abolishing regulations, he’s going to have to fill a lot of positions.”